Process for treatment of fruit juices



Jan. 29, 1935. H H, BRQWNE PROCESS FOR TREATMENT OF FRUIT JUICES Filed June 17, 1932 INVENTOR BM C//- M ATTORNEY?" Patented Jan.2 9,1935- 1,9893% UNITED I STATESPATENT OFFICE 1,989,399 raocass ron or Flinn nut-01a n. Browne Brooklyn, N. 1., mimito The Hills Brothers Company, New York, N. Y-, a corporation of New York Application June 17, 1932, Serial No. 617,708 5 Claims. (01. 99-15) This invention relates to preservation of fruit 'as cans, which are at once sealed. The cans are juices, as, for example, the juice of citrus fruits, then subjected to'a further heatingunder caresuch as oranges and .grapefruit. More particufully. regulated conditions of temperature and larly, the invention is concerned with a novel time to complete the destruction of the organisms.

5 method of treating fruit juice so that it may be The novel apparatus .which forms a part of 5 kept in sealed containers for indefinite periods my invention provides a convenient and advanwithout undergoing changes in taste and flavor, tageous means for carrying on the desired heat and with a novel apparatus by which the method treatment and by its use, /the juice may be may be advantageously practiced. For purposes quickly raised to the desired temperature and of explanation, the use of the new method and discharged directly into the cans in which the apparatus in connection with the treatment and juice is to be shipped, without substantial ex.- preservation of the juice of citrus "fruits will be posure. described in detail, although it is to be under- For a better understanding of the invention, stood that the utility of the invention is not reference may be had to the accompanying drawlimited to that particular type or juice. ing illustrating the novel apparatus. In this Many attempts have been made heretofore to drawing, 4 I devise a method of treating citrus fruit juice Fig. 1 is a view in vertical elevation of the apso that the juice can be extracted from the fruit paratus, certain parts being shown in section.- at the groves and shipped to market in sealed Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the ap- 2o containers, but so far as I am aware, the methods paratus with parts broken away, and used have not been successful because they either Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the involved a treatment which impaired the taste of use of the principle of open channel ilow" in the the juice or else did not preserve the juice so that apparatus. 1 it would keep indefinitely without spoiling. In For the preservation of citrus fruit juices, '1 many of these prior methods, the juice was given have found that, if the juice is heated under such -.a preliminary heat treatment to kill the bacteria ndi i ns as 1 P m th fr escape gases and other organisms present which would cause and Vap r i fllei n o rais the juice Dr the-juice to become unfit for consumption, and, ly a mp r Varying m about while such a-result may be obtained by heating, 155 F. to bout 175 F. Thereafter the heated the methods of heating the juice heretofore used J' ul b di h r a Once and without resulted in giving th juice an unpalatable k d substantial exposure to the atmosphere, into conflavor. However, unless the juice was heated miners, which h beefi sterilized, and th nsufliciently to destroy the organisms, it did not tainers sealed without delay. The containers keep and soon turned sour, should then be kept at a temperature of about 35 The method of preserving fruit juice in a 160 F. to about 1'70" F. for a period of at least ten cordance with my invention involves the heat t0 fifteen h treatment necessary to preserve the juice, but, In the Prehminery h ating, the .iui Should be as a result of my experiments n t field 1 have kept out of contact-with the atmosphere as much 40 discovered that the heating may be carried on 85 Possible e h h tin h ld be arri d on in such a way as to destroy the organisms without m 8 9 a Short tlme such as {mean impairing t t st and flavor of t juice. In seconds. The final heating should be carrled on addition t t t t t t I employ t c for at least the time mentioned in order to obtain jty of a n amount of juice t accomplish the desired prese a tion, and any longer or higher v the destruction of the organisms, making a blend heatmg 1s y to lmpail the taste and flaw! of 45 of ordinary sweet juice and the highly acid juice the juiceand then'oflsetting the soumess of the blend by In carrying on the new method, e juice is adding a small 'quantity of sugar in t g m introduced into the top of a pipe coil which is v of a syrup. 1 heated, and, as the juice flows through the coil,

In carrying out the method, I heat the blend its temperature is raised to the desired point. 50

of juices in a preliminary operation under such The coil is so constructed and the juice is introconditions that the gases and vapors evolved duced into it at such a'rate that the juice does from the liquid by heatingmay freely escape, not fill the piping completely at any timebut and the blend is then introduced without subflows along the bottom of the piping in such a stantial exposure to the air into containers, such way as to leave an air space above the liquid level. 55

As the juice is raised in temperature in its flow through the coil, air entrapped in the juice and vapors are forced out of the juice int0 the air space above the juice and flow upwardly and escape from the coilto the atmosphere. The passage of the juice through the coil requires only a shortlperiod of time as, for example, 15 seconds, and the juice'is discharged from the coil directly into the sterilized cams which are then sealed and heated as, for example, by being placed in hot water maintained at the desired temperature.

Inthe preservation of orange juice and grapefruit juice, a blend is first made by adding a small quantity of sour orange juice, the acidity of which has a toxic effect on the organisms present. Because of the addition of the sour juice, it is necessary to addsugar to keep the blend palatable and the amount of sugar added will depend on the quantity of the sour juice employed. A blend which I have found to be satisfactory may include 90% ordinary orange juice and 10% sour orange juice and for the quantity contained in a No. 1 can, about 1 oz. of 50% sugar syrup is required. The amount of sweetening added depends both on the quantity of the sour juice employed and on the acidity thereof, but the proportions will not vary substantially from those mentioned. In the case of grapefruit juice, about 4% of sour orange juice is employed valve 23.

and about 1 oz. of sugar syrup of 50% strength will be employed for 8% oz. of juice.

The juice is extracted from the fruit either mechanically by reaming or else the fruit is' and the blend of juices made.

The vessel containing the blend is provided with a pipe 10 containing a flow control valve ll set manually to regulate the rate of and in this-pipe is a shut-oil. valve 12 operated by a handle 13 acted on by a spring 14 and nor;

mally keeping the shut-oi! valve closed. gm-e pipe 10 discharges into a funnel 15' connected to the top. of a pipe coil 15 which lies within a vessel 16. Means are provided for heating'the coil, and for this purpose, the vessel may contain water which is heated by steam introduced through a nozzle 1'1 to which leads a pipe'18 provided with a control valve 19, the nozzle lying near the bottom of the vessel. The vessel has an overflow pipe 20 near its top and may be drained through a pipe 21 leading to a fitting 22 connected to the bottom of the vessel, flow through the drain pipe being controlled by a :The soil, has a number of -convolutions and passes out through the fitting 22 at the bottom of the tank, its discharge end being provided with a valve 24 operated by the handle 13, the valves 12 and 24 thus being opened and closed in unison. The pitch of the coil and the size of the pipe employed is such that by proper regulation of the control valve 11, the juice entering the funnel when the valves 22 and 24 are opened flows through the coil but without filling the piping. The liquid as illustrated in Fig. 3 may fill approximately half of the piping so that there is an air space above the flowing stream. By this open channel flow, provision is made for the es cape of gasesand vapors which are driven out of the liquid as the latter is heated, and the gases and vapors fiow upwardly through the coil and escape into the atmosphere.

In the operation' of the apparatus, the vessel 16 is filled with 'water and steam turned on un- "til the temperature of the water is at about 180 F., at which temperature the water is maintainedthroughout operation. The operator is provided with a supply of cans which have been previously sterilized, for example, by means of a steam spray and when a blend is used which includes a sour juice, the required quantity of sugar syrup is placed in each'can before it is filled. The operator places a can beneath the discharge end of the coil, and pulls down on the handle 13 opening the valves 12 and 24, and, as the juice flows through the coil, it is heated to a temperature ofabout to 175 F. and discharged directly into the can. When the can is filled, the operator closes the valves 12 and 24, replaces the full can by an empty one, and opens the valves ,again. The operation of changing cans takes only a very short time and the of the cans is carried on practically continuously with the juice substantially out of contact with the atmosphere at all times following its introduction into the coil.

As soon as a can'is filled, it is capped and sealed and then placed with others in a hot water bath or other heating means so that the'juice can "be maintained at a temperature of from about to for at least10 to 15 minutes. When removed from the heating bath, the cans are ready to be labeled and shipped and the juice therein will keep fresh and palatable for an indefinite period. v The heating of the juice in the coil with open channel flow is an important feature of the invention and appears to be largely responsible for the preservation 9f the juice without impairment of its flavor. The use of the sour juice also assists in preservation and I employ a sour 'juice of such kind and in such amount that the final product has a pH value of 3% to 6. v

I In order that the apparatus may function on thelopen channel 'ilow principle, the funnel leadto the coil should have approximately the pitch as theicoil and I have found that $5 l'iueh tubing ,best be used for the coil. Preferably the 6011 or tin tubing about 20 feet long and coiled with'a 2 inch'pitch. The tunnel may be of Monel metaland the coil and funnel are supported in the vessel in any convenient manner. The use 01 the fitting 22 makes it posible to, provide the vessel with .a single outlet opening at the bottom through which the contents" higher than the desired exit temperature of the juice, the temperature difierential depending an The operating conditions will vary, of course, with the temperature of .the

the rate of flow.

juice to be treated but the apparatus may be easily controlled by the operator to obtain the desired results. Preferably the control valves 12 and 24 will be silver-plated inside, the 'presence of the silver in contact with the juice apparently having a somewhat toxic effect on the organisms present.

I claim: 1. A method of preserving citrus fruit juices which comprises preliminarily heating allowing stream of the juice while keeping the juice out of contact with the air and permitting the escape f of gases and vapors therefrom, the temperature of the juice thus heated ranging from about- F. to about 175 F., introducing the heated juice at once into containers, sealing the containers, and maintaining the juice in the containers at its elevated temperature for at least ten minutes.

2. A method of preserving citrus fruit juices which comprises preliminarily'heating a flowing stream of the juice while keeping the juice out of contact with the air and permitting the escape of gases and vapors therefrom, the temperature of the juice thus heated ranging from about 155 F. to about 175 F., introducing the heated juice at once into containers, sealing the containers, and maintaining the juice in the containers at a temperature from about F. to about F. for at least ten minutes.

3. A method of preserving citrus fruit juices which comprises preliminarily heating a flowing stream of the juice while keeping the juice out of contact with the air and permitting the escape of gases and'vapors therefrom, the temperature of the juice thus heated ranging from about 155 F. toabout F., introducing the heated juice at once into containers, sealing the containers, and maintaining the juice in the containers at its elevated temperature for about ten to fifteen minutes.

4. A method of preserving citrus fruit juices which comprises preliminarily raising the flowing stream of juice to a temperature from about 155 F. to about 175 F. while keeping the juice out of contact with the air and permitting the escape of gases and vapors therefrom, said heating requiring about 15 seconds, introducing the heated juice at once into containers, sealing the containers, and maintaining the canned juice in its containers at its elevated temperature for at least ten minutes.

v 5. A method of preserving citrus fruit juiceswhich comprises producing a blend of said juice with a relatively small quantity of sour orange juice, preliminarily heating a flowing stream of the mixed juices while keeping the juice out of contact with the air and permitting the escape of gases and vapors therefrom, the temperature of the juice thus heated ranging from about 155 F. to about 175 F., introducing the heated juice at once-into containers, sealing the containers, and maintaining the juice in the containers at its elevated temperature for at lea ten minutes; 1 HAROLD H. BROWNE. 

